Abstract:

Objective
To study the expressions of epidermal growth factor (EGFR) and transforming growth factor-α(TGF-α) in human prostatic adenocarcinoma (PAC),high grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) tissues,and to explain the effect of the expressions in the  development of  PAC.Methods 41 specimens of PAC  and specimens of BPH and 32 specimens  of  HGPIN were selected,the expressions of EGFR and TGF-α  were determined by immuohistochemisitry staining.The relationship between the expressions of EGFR and TGF-α  and  histopathologic classification was analyzed.Results ①The EGFR positive rates were 56.6%,53.7% and 85.4% in PAC,HGPIN and BPH，the differences between BPH and HGPIN,BPH and PAC were statistically significant（P<0.01）. There was no significant difference in  EGFR positive rate between PAC and  HGPIN. The EGFR positive rates were 53.9%,55.6% and 52.6% in well-differentiated,moderately differentiated and poorly differentiated PAC,the expressions of EGFR had no correlation with different Gleason grades in PAC （P>0.05）.②The TGF-α  positive rates in PAC and BPH were 56.1% and 85.4%,there was significant difference between them（P<0.01）.The TGF-α  positive rate were 53.8%,66.7% and 52.6% in well differentiated,moderately differentiated and poorly differentiated PAC,the expressions of TGF-α had no correlation with different Gleason grades in PAC （P>0.01）. The TGF-α positive rate in HGPIN was 56.3%,there was no significant difference compared with  PAC（P>0.05）,but there was significant difference compared with  BPH (P<0.01).The collective positive rate of EGFR and TGF-α  was 81.8%,the respective positive rate of  EGFR was 18.2% and the respective positive rate of TGF-α was 26.3% in PAC,they had  positive correlation（r=0.558，P<0.001） and they had no  correlation in HGPIN （r=0.111，P=5.450） and BPH （r=0.024,P=0.883）. Conclusion The EGFR and TGF-α expression levels in PAC,HGPIN and BPH are different,combined detection of them can be useful for the diagnosis,differential diagnosis and evaluation in benign and malignant prostate disease.The expressions of EGFR and TGF-α  play centain roles in the pathogenesis of prostatic adenocarcinoma．

Key words: prostatic neoplasms；high grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia；epidermal growth factor；transforming growth factor-α